Laura Billings Coleman
creative content for the common good
Essays and Opinion
How to Buy a Turkish Rug
A Turkish shopping adventure By Laura Billings If there is something missing from the American Shopping Experience -- and if you've been to the Mall of America, as I have, you know not much has been overlooked -- it is the act of bargaining. Not buying a...
Location, Location, Location
Buyer’s remorse with one silver lining.
Our Pilgrims’ Progress
I’m at work on a project about America’s growing fascination with geneaology, and this travel story in the May 2015 Family Fun (“The Secrets of Happy Travelers”) is one of the byproducts.
Recommended Reading
Beatlebone by Kevin Barry
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
Vivid Faces: The Revolutionary Generation in Ireland, 1890-1923 by RF Foster
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
The Tenth of December by George Saunders
Bio: Laura has been writing for national magazines, newspapers and new media since before it was called "content." A former columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Mademoiselle and Mpls/St. Paul, her reporting and reviews have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Outside, Fast Company, SELF, Salon and many other publications.
Fun fact: Laura spent her formative years writing relationship advice in women’s magazines. Ask her anything. She’s here to help.